4 Research Interns
Barbara Laraia, Professor
Public Health
Applications for Spring 2026 are closed for this project.
As human life spans increase, so do the risk of developing chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. For example, cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death among women. These chronic conditions can take a lifetime to develop. Poor quality diets, stress, eating patterns and socioeconomic status are key influences on this process.
The research lab led by Dr. Barbara Laraia, Professor and Chair of Food, Nutrition and Population Health program, under the division of Community Health Sciences, seeks to understand the life course accumulated risk associated with developing chronic conditions and accelerated aging. We are currently recruiting a cohort of white and black women who are now between the ages of 48-52. The cohort has been followed since the women were 9/10 years old. We last met with them ten years ago. We seek to understand the impact of early life nutrition and stress on a ten-year change in cardiovascular risk and biological markers of aging. The research focuses on using nutrition epidemiologic methods to assess diet quality as a key modifiable risk factor health outcomes.
As the new study is being initiated, our research team is conducted literature reviews to identify new findings in this area, we are putting together recruitment materials, developing didactic protocol tutorials for study participants, and pilot testing data collection materials.
Role: Role: The student will:
• Complete research ethic training through the CITI Online Training course
• Complete a study orientation – reading study materials and background information
• Literature searches for new grant proposals
• Update the NGHS study Annotated Bibliography with current publications
• Update NGHS Annotated Bibliography Abstracts with citations and full abstracts
• Compile list of last know contact information for all participants
• Researching best new platforms for finding contacts - WhitePages? LexisNexis?
• Pilot test all questionnaires for clarity, confusion, discomfort, and timing
• Work with the National Institutes of Health online Automated Self-Administered 24 Hour Recall (ASA24 dietary intake) platform to create a brief instructional booklet
• Assist with social media outreach
• Create YouTube instructional videos for sample collection - specifically filming, editing, and posting.
• Participate in bi-weekly lab meetings
Qualifications: Qualifications: The ideal candidate should be,
• Motivated to learn, organized and very detail-oriented
• Familiar with conducting a literature review and summarizing findings
• Interest in developing data collection materials
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
• Availability 6 to 8 hours per week
• Ability to commit to the research throughout the spring semester
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
• Some coursework in nutrition, public health, epidemiology, and/or biostatistics
• Experience and/or interest in nutrition, cardiovascular disease, women’s health, life course framework
• Experience searching online databases and conducting data cleaning and analysis
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/people/barbara-laraia
Biological & Health Sciences Social Sciences